One Way or Another
by Merlose
Summary: Follows Yuri and Alice after the completion of the game. Chapter 2 up!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer (short and non-witty version): I don't own Shadow Hearts or any of the characters portrayed in the series.  
  
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The gentle rocking of the train had lulled Yuri and Alice to sleep as they traveled to visit her mother in Zurich Switzerland. It had been a rough year for both of them. Fighting what seemed to be unceasing hordes of demons and monsters as well as coming to terms with Yuri's own inner demons. However, they had made it through and their adventures had culminated in saving the world from an alien god. How they had been able to pull that feat off Yuri was still unsure.  
  
What mattered to Yuri now was getting to know Alice even better. He thought this task should be much easier to accomplish now that they were no longer being stalked by mad men bent on ruling or destroying the world. They were finally going to be able to do the mundane activities average couples enjoyed everyday. Walks through the park, picnics, and they would, at last, be able to spend more than ten minutes alone at a time. Yuri had enjoyed the company of all of their travel companions, however towards the end of their trip he had become increasingly aggravated with the lack of privacy available to him and Alice. A couple of special moments had almost taken place between them only to be inadvertently cut short by one or more of their friends barging in.  
  
The rocking of the train finally ceased as they reached their destination, Zurich. Yuri slowly opened his eyes and moved his line of sight to the girl still asleep on his shoulder. The soft light shining through window made her facial features look even more delicate than usual and gave her light blonde hair a silvery glow. Yuri mused to himself that it felt like he had an angel or some type of Greek goddess resting upon his shoulder.  
  
"Alice..." Yuri whispered. "We're here."  
  
Alice's eyes stayed closed.  
  
"Alice," Yuri said a bit louder and moved his right hand to gently begin shaking her shoulder.  
  
Her eyes still stayed closed and she did not stir. Yuri felt a surge of dread flow into him.  
  
'Oh please God, don't let her...'  
  
He thought that they had taken care of the masks and annulled Alice's deal with them, but what if they and Atman had somehow come back to claim Alice's soul.  
  
Yuri grabbed both of Alice's shoulders and began to shake her much more roughly.  
  
"Alice! Wake up!"  
  
Alice sat up quickly and looked around the train compartment.  
  
"Huh, what...what's going on?"  
  
Several passengers who had already collected their luggage and were heading out of the train compartment turned their heads to look at the commotion Yuri had caused. An older woman traveling by herself clicked her tongue and mumbled something about obnoxious young people.  
  
Once Alice had gained her bearings she turned to Yuri and examined his face.  
  
"Uh, Yuri are you alright?"  
  
Yuri let out a small, self-conscious chuckle and shook his head.  
  
"Oh uh yeah Alice. I guess I'm still just a bit stressed out."  
  
Alice gave a final skeptical glance in Yuri's direction and then moved her eyes to the small bag at her feet.  
  
"Well, we had better get going if we are going to have dinner at mother's."  
  
Alice stood up with bag and straightened out her skirt, brushing out the wrinkles. Yuri took a deep breath and then quickly followed her as she exited the train.  
  
Once they were outside and Yuri had collected their remaining luggage Alice turned toward him.  
  
"Yuri, are you sure you're alright? When I woke up you just looked so distressed. You know you can tell me if something is bothering you." Alice smiled reassuringly and patted Yuri's arm.  
  
Yuri smiled back, but knew there was no way he was going to divulge the truth to her. There was finally a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere surrounding them and he wasn't going to risk upsetting it by bringing up the now null and void death deal she had made with those stupid masks.  
  
"I guess I'm just kind of nervous about meeting your mother."  
  
Alice seemed to relax a bit after hearing this response and her smile grew wider.  
  
"Now, Yuri I've gone over this with you. My mother will love you just as long as you act like the gentleman I know you are."  
  
Yuri attempted to stifle a chuckle, but Alice quickly noticed and turned to face him, her expression changed from amusement to concern.  
  
"Yuri, please, it's important that you make a good first impression. Now that means no cursing or using the Lord's name in vain or chewing with your mouth open or-" Yuri quickly cut Alice off before she could continue.  
  
"Yeah, yeah we've already been over all of this." Yuri had only paused for a second before Alice quickly jumped in again.  
  
"Oh, and I almost forgot to mention no inappropriate touching."  
  
Following Alice's last statement Yuri quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Yuri responded with as innocent an expression as he could muster. He knew he would be able to have some fun embarrassing and aggravating Alice with the impending subject.  
  
Alice began to glance around the train station. She looked at the bags Yuri had dropped at their feet, the clock over the station exit door, almost anywhere but in Yuri's eyes.  
  
"Well, it's just that sometimes your hands seem to wander to places that they have no business being." Alice's tone was serious and she was sure to emphasize the last words she spoke. However, Yuri was having a very hard time maintaining his innocent façade as well as stifling a devious smile. He took a step closer to Alice so they were now only inches apart.  
  
"So you're saying I shouldn't do something like this?" Yuri said in a sincere tone as he reached around and placed his hand on Alice's lower back and then quickly moved it lower.  
  
Alice's jaw fell open as Yuri's hand lingered over her backside. But, a couple of seconds later she overcame her initial shock at his action, swatted his hand away, and took several steps back from him. Her face grew red as she searched for the words to articulate just how outraged she was at the liberty his hand had just taken. Yuri realized that was in for it when Alice narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
"Yuri! How...how dare..." Instead of finishing the sentence Alice made an angry noise, turned towards the stations nearest exit, and marched off.  
  
Yuri was left standing with all of the luggage as well as the small bag Alice had been carrying. He scrambled to quickly gather all of the bags together and catch up with Alice as she stormed out of the station.  
  
'Oh man, I hope she gets over this before we get to her mom's place' Yuri thought following after Alice as she pushed through the station exit doors.  
  
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End of chapter one. Thanks for reading and please review if you don't mind. I think that Yuri's pretty well in character, but I'm a little less sure about Alice. 


	2. chapter 2

Normally Yuri would have had no problem keeping up with Alice's long strides, however the cumbersome load of bags and suitcases were slowing him down quite a bit. After the "incident" in the train station Alice had taken off in a flurry, ignoring his calls after her and his pleas for her to slow her pace. She was currently nearly half a block ahead of him and Yuri was struggling to keep her in his sight as she made her way around corners and through the crowds of people.

Yuri finally realized what he would have to do in order to get Alice to stop her breakneck speed. It had been about fifteen minutes since he had begun following her and he still had no idea just how close they were to her mother's home.

"Alice! I'm sorry okay?" Yuri yelled.

Yuri let out of sigh of relief once Alice turned around and began walking back towards him. Her face was a little less red than when she had first chastised him and his wandering hand, but her eyes now held a contemptuous glare.

Alice stopped a couple of feet in front of him.

_Damn, I'm really in for it now. _

"Yuri, sometimes it just seems like you do certain things for the sole purpose of upsetting me."

Yuri meant to pay attention to what Alice was saying, but he couldn't help but notice that her lips came together to form a small pout when she was angry and that the expression gave her a more child-like appearance.

_She looks so cute when she's angry._

He quickly realized that a smile that was threatening to show on his face, but repressed it. He knew that it was important to Alice that he take what she was saying seriously.

"I'm not trying to upset you or make you mad on purpose," Yuri said. "I guess, it's just now that all of the stress of our trip is over I felt like being a little goofy and, um playful."

Yuri tried putting on one of his more boyish and charming smiles after the last statement.

Alice's expression softened slightly and Yuri inwardly sighed in relief.

_Good, I'm making some progress._

Alice looked as if she we were about to reply when Yuri heard loud chuckling to the right of himself and Alice. There was a group of boys, just slightly younger than Halley's age, sitting on the front stoop of one of the nearby houses. They were watching the exchange between Yuri and Alice and seemed amused by the whole situation. Interruption

Yuri glared at them, and unconsciously started to bear his teeth. Alice, on the other hand, became slightly flustered once aware of their existence, but seemed intent not to acknowledge them.

"I can understand you wanting to relax and, well, be more casual now that our trip is over, however that action was just inappropriate."

Yuri heard another round of laughing to his right. He looked over and again glared at the boys, but this did nothing to stop them. Those damn boys were distracting him and making it difficult for him to gather his thoughts.

"I don't mind if you show your affection for me," Alice continued a bit quieter. "But, please just do it in a different manner." Alice blushed a bit. "At least until we're--"

Yuri felt his hearts flutter. Was Alice about to say what he thought she was? Before he could wait for her to continue, a series of loud cat calls and kissing noises interrupted Alice.

Alice blushed a deep red and quickly looked away from him. Yuri had finally reached his boiling point. After months and months of he and Alice being interrupted and disturbed by others he was no longer willing to put up with the juvenile behavior of the boys.

"Shut the hell up before I come over their and kick your butts," Yuri snarled. The kids seemed taken aback for only a moment before they began laughing and jeering Yuri on.

"Oh yeah mister? I'd like to see ya try!" one of the smaller boys called. He stood up and flexed one of his bony arms while the other boys cheered him on.

Yuri began cracking his knuckles.

"Just don't go crying to your mommas when I'm through with you." Yuri took on a fighting pose and made a "bring it on" motion with his right hand.

This display was enough for Alice. She let out a deep sigh, turned on her heel, and continued in the direction she had previously been walking.

Yuri was torn. He badly wanted to knock some sense into the street kids for ruining his moment with Alice, but she was, once again, walking down the street at an incredible speed. He only had about thirty seconds before she made her way out of his sights.

Yuri looked at the boys and then at Alice. Looked back at the boys and then back to Alice. Finally, he let out a deep groan, picked up the heavy luggage, and began to chase after Alice. His decision to follow Alice brought the loudest round of jeers and laughter from the boys on the street.

"Don't think I won't be back!" Yuri yelled angrily behind him at the kids and, in the process, almost managed to trip over one of the bags he was carrying.

"We're shakin' in our boots!" the small, bony boy called back.

The boys' taunts and laughter gradually faded as Yuri jogged down the street to catch up with Alice.

Although he was swiftly dodging through the crowd, Yuri was close to losing Alice from his eyesight. He couldn't believe the pace she was keeping. At least after she had left the train station she would glance back every now and again to make sure that he was still following her. However, now she was only looking straight ahead, her head held stiff and high. Just when Yuri felt about ready to drop all of the luggage in the street and yell a slew of curse words at the oncoming crowd Alice stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. Yuri caught up to her quickly. Once he got close enough he could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes, but also noticed that there was a small smile on her face.

"Alice? What is it?"

Alice turned and looked at Yuri and then looked back at the house she had stopped in front of.

"I'm finally home."

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This chapter has been in the making for a long, long time. Playing Shadow Hearts: Covenant inspired to finish it. Playing SH:C will (hopefully) also inspire me to write some future chapters of this fic. I've already got quite a few ideas for the next chapter :D


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